An Update...

My Visit to Samokov:
Samokov has over 20,000 people which means it has shops, café’s, etc… Since it is so close to Sofia, I am within an hour from almost anything. The main attraction of my town is that it is less than ten minutes from the Bulgarian equivalent of Vail. The ski resort of Borovets is fairly well known and over the winter has tourists from the UK and Germany. This high amount of tourism is supported by a beautiful ski town. Five minutes in almost any direction from my front door, and you are surrounded by breathtaking mountain views. As for my apartment, it is huge. Currently, it has six beds. Also, it is the top floor of a house. This means that I am not in one of the communist built bloc apartments. I have a balcony that looks over the Rila’s. All in all, not a bad gig for two years. From what I understand, I will have three jobs. One will be to help get international funding for the local government, two will be to work with local businesses to develop local tourism in Samokov, and lastly to increase international tourism in Borovets. To be honest, it seems like I can work on whatever I want. This coupled with a Peace Corps mandated four day work week (yeah, that’s right) will make things interesting.

Sorry that I have not been updating the website as frequently, but they have really turned up the pressure in the language classes. Currently, we are learning about Bulgarian Verbs in the Perfective Future Tense. Fun stuff. Oh well.

~~Mark

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Two Years in Samokov...

Well the stars have once again aligned themselves and placed me in Samokov. It is a mountian resort and only a few miles from the most famous ski resort in Bulgaria (Borovets). The Bulgarians that I have talked to say it is beautiful. (I guess a good sign is that it is mentioned in both the Lonley Planet and Rough Guide travel books.) By bus it is less than an hour to Sofia and the buses go every hour. On the map, it is just northwest of the Rila Monestary. My actual job is working with the Municipality in the Eurointegration department. From what I know now, this is the exact job I was looking for and there is a lot of opportunity to work with Greece. Since I have not been there I will try and not sing it's praises too much. I will be leaving in the morning for the acutal town. More details to come.

~~Mark
PS: My cell phone issues have not been resolved as of yet. It might be ready by the weekend.

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Roman Ruins...

The town next to Belovo is called Golamo Belovo. A couple days ago, we were driven there by the curator of Belovo’s museum. The trip was less than five minutes. Once there, we were met by a local. He had grown up in Golamo Belovo and knew the trails we would need to find the roman ruins hidden in the mountains above the town. It was about an hour hike up the mountain up a fairly well kept dirt path.

As we were walking, the guide told us that the path dated back to roman times. The actual ruins are of a monastery and date back to 600 AD. Yeah, that’s right. 600 AD. Interestingly, there are no Japanese tourists waiting to point and shoot, there was no informational, glossy brochure. No fund raisers or staff of twelve to cater to the visitors. There are no visitors.

It has stood for fourteen hundred years; I guess it can take care of itself. They did attempt to reconstruct part of it, but it was a shotty job. I assume that there is just too many of these hidden ruins to take care of them all properly. A case where a countries wealth of history is not matched by wealth in the bank. I have to admit it makes the ‘historical’ section of Naperville seem a bit silly.

On our way back from the monastery, we bumped into an old Shepard. He was a friend of our trail guide. The man was born in 1918 and was sitting alone in the field watching his sheep. We were told that he sleeps each night outside, no matter the season. Amazing for anyone, let alone a man in his eighties. Nazis and Communists have come and gone in his tenure and I would guess he didn’t change a bit. I wanted to take a picture, but after seeing the monastery couldn’t bring myself to do it. Not everything belongs in the spotlight. The more I think about it, the more I like that there is an unappreciated monastery crumbling in the mountains of Bulgaria. And, that as the summer’s heat gives way to winter, and the years roll past, the old Shepard will still keep watch. Both existing, stories untold. I don’t know why taking a picture of him would change anything, but for some reason it just didn’t seem right.

~~Mark

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No means Yes.

So, before I came I had read that people in Bulgaria shake their head ‘no’ when they are saying da (yes). It is true. It is just one of many things that really throw me for a loop over here. For example, when you get brave and try to use your Bulgarian to order food here is what happens. You look at the menu much longer than is normal. This is for two reasons, one is that it is in Bulgarian and you have to decode it and the other is that you have to construct what you are going to say to the waitress. Finally you recite the lines you have been silently practicing and the waitress shakes her head. Enter panic, stage left. Is she saying they do not have it? Did I say something crazy like, ‘I enjoy eating rocks and toenails.’? Oh no folks, she was simply agreeing with you. If you want to know how much you rely on body language, I have a take home assignment. Try and go an entire conversation shaking your head yes and do not tell the other person. It is like the feeling you get when you try to rub your stomach and pat your head. Plus, the other person will think you are a freak.
“That is all I have to say about that.” (Forrest Gump)

This Monday is a big day. I will be finding out what my job is and where I will be living for the next couple of years. I will get an update as soon as possible.

~~ Mark

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September 11th.

Today is September 11th. It is odd to be in a strange country and be see as 'the' American. I know that this is part of my job here, but how can you feel confident representing the entire country? I spend most of my time telling as many different perspectives and ideas I can think Americans have. But, end result they want to know what I think about it all. Also, it is strange to get so many apologies. The attacks really did effect more than the US. They have coverage on TV and the all the newspapers. I guess you can't really expect more. Hope everyone has a safe and uneventful 9-11.

~~Mark

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Haskovo Roma

I can’t remember her name. She looked about nine years old and walked up to me while I was at a café in Haskovo, asking for money and if I spoke English. It is usually easy to dismiss the Roma. But, for some reason, I kept talking to her.

She had dark hair streaked with red, a trendy look some spend a ton on, but was no doubt done on the cheap. The pink of her palms and fingers had been discolored black. Closer inspection showed it was not dirt as much as dye. Other than the darkened fingers she looked surprisingly well groomed. At least as much as you can expect from a nine year old regardless the country. The look in her eyes proved she was smart. In her dirty looking, clean hands she held a collection cup she had probably pulled from the trash earlier in the day. We spoke using broken English with broken Bulgarian. Obviously, our chat was cut short by the language barrier. She asked again for money, and I told her we would meet up again the next day to practice her English.

The next day came and I got up early to go and wait for her at the same café. I enjoyed my cappuccino alone. She had stood me up. Minus the blow to my ego, no harm had been done. The rest of the day, I made sure to keep an eye out for her. No such luck. The next day, we were in a rush to catch the bus out of town and she showed up. We talked and she said she was hungry. She was hungry and we were in a rush. She followed us for awhile and we had a chance to catch up from two days ago. Finally, she had to head back, to where or for what I do not know. In that time we had not passed anywhere for me to pick up some lunch for her. So, in the rush, I gave one lev (just over fifty cents). I wonder if she was able to get something to eat, or if the money went to someone else.

The bus ride home I started thinking. (I know, bad idea.) And, after a while, I felt like jumping out the window and hitching a ride back to Haskovo. I would find the girl, knock the cup from her hands, scrub the black off her fingers, and ask for her name. We could grab lunch and go to a movie. I felt like going to GAP for kids and dropping a grand on clothes. In short, not your typical Mark Jackson range of thought.

Once I was done casting myself as the savior, my mind took a turn for something a bit more practical. First of all, why was this little one any different from all the others I ignore everyday? Maybe she reminded me of my nieces. I don’t know. Even worse than feeling bad for this little girl was the realization that she is not alone. How many cute impoverished little ones are there? How many not so cute ones? I don’t know. Do I want to know? I’m not sure.

A friend of mine said something interesting. She said, if the opportunity presented itself, she would do what she could to ‘move the world’ for someone here. Maybe that is the whole idea. Odds are I won’t be saving the whole of Bulgaria in two years, but I would like to do something. I don’t really know what I am trying to say, but I do get the feeling it is going to be an interesting couple of years. I’ll keep you posted.

~~Mark

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A Walk in the Rilas...

Yesterday I went for a hike in the Rila mount ions. It was beautiful. We stopped for about an hour to eat wild blueberries, raspberries, and cranberries. Amazing. We got to the peak and climbed up an old Communist water tower. A bit sketchy, but the view was breath taking.

I will let the pictures tell this story...

~~Mark

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A List...

Yesterday I went to the market with a fellow volunteer. We walked in, made our respective purchases, and walked out. We did our best to use our Bulgarian and thought nothing of the experience. On the walk home I realized something a touch disturbing. I have gotten used to shopping in Bulgaria, in Bulgarian. The next question is, ‘what else am I in danger of accepting as routine?’ In no strict order, I give you a list…

1) Not flushing toilet paper. Word on the street is that the ‘system’ cannot handle the added stress. I have some well reasoned doubts on the validity of this inconvenience. But, with a trashcan full of discarded, discolored items, who am I to deviate from protocol?
2) Turkish toilets. Holes in the ground that work off of the squat and go philosophy. Don’t worry they put little groves in the floor for your feet, ‘so I got that going for me.’
3) Stray Dogs. Be thankful for Bob Barker, from the Price is Right, and his crusade to “Help control the pet population.” Things have gotten out of hand over here. They move in packs; they bark through the night. They follow you if you are out for a jog; they have already bitten one of the volunteers in training. I think they have eaten most of the cats, I don’t see many of those around.
4) Girls in semitransparent white pants. It is the current fashion. I had nothing to do with it, but I just thought it worth noting.
5) Roaming farm animals. I live in a bad petting zoo and I think the caretaker quit a couple of years back. The goats usually gather around the apartment building in the morning. The sheep wander back to town from the pastures around sunset. The horses are pretty unpredictable and will show up on their own accord. The chickens and turkeys are always either eating or running. (FYI: Roosters do crow at sunrise, but this is due to a lesser known fact. They crow all the stinking time. People, roosters have no idea what time it is.)
6) Television. I neither watch it, nor miss it.
7) Rakiya. Homemade brandy distilled from plums/grapes/oranges/figs/whatever they can get their hands on. It is stiff and unregulated. Responsible Rakiya drinkers should be sure to include something to chase the fire with. Selected favorites include: tomatoes, pickles (preferably Russian), and cheese.
8) False kindness from other English speakers. A strange phenomenon where if you speak the same language in a foreign place, you are allowed to skip the lengthy formalities of friendship and move directly to pal status. It has already been good for a free dinner and a taxi ride. That was nice.
9) Mountains. We have three ranges converging on Belovo and it is wonderful.
10) Degrees Celsius. I am ashamed to say, but it makes sense. Water freezes at 0 and boils at 100. There has got to be a better way for America to deal with its insecurities than blatant insubordination to the international research community.
11) Communist relics. Better described as communist ruins. This one is not really funny and will take a lot more digging around to understand.
12) Public Transportation. Once a week I take a bus to a bigger town for classes. If you drove directly it would take about fifteen minutes, it takes us over an hour.
13) Espresso. When I left the States, I promised myself that I would not start drinking coffee or smoking. But, the coffee is too good here. Plus, what else are you going to do when you sit at a café for a couple hours? (Don’t worry mom I am not smoking.)

~~Mark

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